The present invention relates to a new and distinct Phlox plant, botanically known as Phlox carolina×Phlox maculata and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Zenith’.
The new Phlox plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. The objective of the breeding program is to create new vigorous Phlox plants with early flowering habit, attractive leaf and flower coloration and resistance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Phlox plant originated from an open-pollination in May, 2008 of Phlox carolina×Phlox maculata ‘Daughter of Pearl’, disclosed in a U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 14/544,219, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Phlox×hybrida as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Phlox plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. in June, 2009.
Asexual reproduction of the new Phlox plant by vegetative stem cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. since September, 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.